Transgender students decry 'dangerous' Trump decision

Activists, parents and transgender students on Thursday vowed to resist the Trump administration's "dangerous" reversal of federal protections of bathroom rights, warning it risked exposing young people to hate-fueled violence.

The White House decision to allow states and school districts to decide whether students can access bathrooms of their choice violates civil rights that should be enshrined at the national level, they said.

Fewer than half of all states currently ban public accommodation discrimination based on gender identity while four Republican states actively restrict bathroom access or restrict laws that would allow it.

"Things I never imagined happening are just blowing my mind," said Lauren Bocketti, mother of 10-year-old Zach, whose needs she says were always treated fairly at school on Long Island, New York.

"We've been lucky and want everybody to feel lucky," she told a news conference of Long Island parents and transgender students who joined an avalanche of human rights groups already criticizing the move.

"It's not a choice. It's who he is. He knew by two years old who he is. He is a boy. He's a boy trapped in a girl's body," she said.

Madeline Bruni, 18, who began transitioning in middle school, said even in a state as liberal as New York, which now enshrines bathroom rights, life was not easy. A year and a half ago, a restaurant called the police when she used the women's restroom.

"In this day and age, it just boggles my mind that is something that still goes on," she told reporters.

Ethan Diaz, 16, said that while he had never had a problem, the decision made him angry on behalf of others who had experienced fear and anxiety about using the bathroom.

"New York is a great place to transition, people do feel comfortable," he said. "But for people not in New York, that's the fear."

Toxic schools contribute to higher rates of depression, suicide, homelessness and HIV infection for transgender young people, activists say.

New York LGBT Network CEO David Kilmnick warned that the decision will increase the stigma attached to transgender youths and put them at "greater risk for hate-motivated violence."